


so much of you in my heart

by tixing



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, POV Hunk (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26655892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tixing/pseuds/tixing
Summary: When a visiting dignitary mistakes Shiro and Keith as a married couple, Hunk and Allura team up to make them finally admit their feelings and get together.
Relationships: Allura/Hunk (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 108
Collections: Sheith Prompt Party 2020





	so much of you in my heart

**Author's Note:**

> big thank you to [Abbey](https://twitter.com/sepiacigarettes) for always encouraging me and for ze excellent beta, always (♡°▽°♡)
> 
> title from [John Keats](http://www.john-keats.com/briefe/080719.htm).

> _Stars, I have seen them fall,_
> 
> _But when they drop and die_
> 
> _No star is lost at all_
> 
> _From all the star-sown sky._
> 
> _The toil of all that be_
> 
> _Helps not the primal fault;_
> 
> _It rains into the sea,_
> 
> _And still the sea is salt._
> 
> — A. E. Housman

— H —

You’d think that Hunk would be used to this.

Two years after the end of the war, countless functions and several peacekeeping summits later, and he _still_ hates getting dragged out for stuffy networking events.

The suit collar feels itchy around his neck, the lights are too bright, and _god_ there are so many people.

This particular evening is a gaudy event to celebrate the war ending. At least it’s being held on New Altea, which is a familiar venue. Time has passed since the war, but not enough. Visiting dignitaries from other planets are still subject to scrutiny, but everyone pastes their diplomatic smiles on and tries to build trust in each other.

Hunk stares into his drink and swills it around the glass. It’s _suspiciously_ thick for a cocktail. Getting drunk to make it through the whole affair might not be an option if this is representative of the drinks on offer.

Staring into the sludgy mix is more interesting than entertaining the alien dignitary currently engaged with the paladins. Their whole body seems to wobble when they talk, like a giant pile of jello with four eyes.

The accompanying translator is a skinny beanpole in comparison, their eyes large and wet. Their voice sounds like water bubbling over rocks, English heavily accented and way too formal.

“I am pleased to note that the union between Galra and Terra seems strong.”

Shiro smiles, “Yes, it’s a bond we have been slowly building.”

Hunk takes a swig and finds it surprisingly fruity, but a bit too viscous.

He receives another wobbly nod. Maybe the dignitary’s head will fall off. “It is auspicious to see you building trust in the Galra after suffering through centuries of oppression from them.”

Hunk nearly spits out his drink at the mention of the elephant in the room, because _dude_. Everyone is wearing identical expressions of shock, but Allura recovers quickly.

“Healing can always happen when all parties work together for change,” she says smoothly.

“It is fortuitous, yes,” the dignitary intones.

As the drinks flow on, the language of the visiting ambassadors becomes looser.

“I will admit, I am confused as to how you will produce offspring.”

“Offspring?” Shiro stutters.

“Admiral Shirogane and Captain Kogane,” a wobbly limb gestures to the pair, “you are of the equivalent sex in your species.” They’re met with stunned silence. “I understand that Galrans and Terrans share similar reproductive systems, and that reproduction requires corresponding organs. You two are the equivalent sex in your respective races, which suggests you do not have corresponding organs. How will you produce offspring together?”

 _Oh...quiznak_.

Hunk’s pretty sure his jaw has dropped on the floor and is now lost with how far it rolled away.

Even Allura is speechless, although she doesn’t have her mouth flapped open like a fish.

She offers, cautious, “Offspring has not yet been discussed.”

Hunk could honestly kiss her in front of everyone right now, formalities be damned. She’s so smart.

“A tangible product of this agreement would be beneficial to all parties. Captain Kogane, you are excellent evidence that reproduction between your species is viable.”

Keith and Shiro are silent, cheeks red, and Hunk sends up a word of thanks to any deity listening that Lance isn’t here to say something stupid.

Allura swoops in to save the day again. Bless her. “Yes, Captain Kogane _is_ an excellent paladin and has been monumental in establishing post-war relations.”

“Indeed. We hope those relations will be fruitful.” The full weight of their words is not lost on anyone. “The best, to both of you. Princess, Admiral, paladins, thank you for your time.”

“Your Grace,” she replies, brilliant as ever as the dignitary departs.

Hunk has never seen Shiro so red without the help of alcohol. No really, the Asian flush is a sight to behold. This is something else entirely. Allura visibly relaxes at their departure, and Keith looks _so_ uncomfortable.

Hunk’s throat feels thick. “Well.”

“I need a drink,” Keith bites out.

“Let’s start with some water and go from there,” Shiro says, sympathetic, before leading him away.

Hunk watches them go, then swings a Look at Allura. “ _Wha_ …?”

“I think we handled that well,” Allura says, diplomatic as ever.

“ _Well_ ?” Hunk nearly drops his drink. Come to think of it, he’s not even interested in it anymore. “That was so awkward. Never again, please. Can’t believe the dude thinks Shiro and Keith are together. Like. _Together_ together.”

Hunk chuckles at the idea, before ironing his face out to greet a new ambassador that approaches him and Allura. In his periphery, he can see Keith and Shiro on the side of the room, engaged in close conversation.

Pfft. They’ve always been close, it’s not a big deal.

Right?

... _Right?_

Hunk’s eyes swivel to land on Shiro and Keith again.

They’re probably still discussing the conversation with Mr. Jello Man, guessing by Keith’s stormy face. Shiro leans in close and places his hand in the small of Keith’s back, and it stays there for way longer than just a brief touch to get his attention.

 _Interesting_.

Hunk shoves the thought out of his brain and focuses back on entertaining ambassadors with Allura. As much as he can focus, really, because wow, those two are super touchy-feely, huh?

Hunk is also a very tactile person, true (who doesn’t love a good hug?), but Shiro and Keith interact like a—

 _Wait_.

Hunk squints at the pair again. _Huh_.

And now that Hunk’s aware of it, it’s honestly all he keeps seeing. It’s seriously wigging him out. How did he not notice their interactions before?

“ _Allura_ ,” he hisses, once they’re free again.

“Yes?”

Hunk stops for a moment because wow, she’s always so pretty. He clears his throat and tries to subtly jerk his head. “Question. Is it just me or do Keith and Shiro act like… closer than normal friends?”

Allura’s brows rise in confusion, “They do have a strong bond. They’ve known each other the longest. It’s probably why the Vax’ahke leader assumed they were married.”

“Yeah but…they’re _super_ close. More than like most people are when they’re just pals.”

Allura watches Shiro and Keith, and then her eyes widen. “ _Really_?”

“I know right?”

Now it’s Allura’s turn to flap her mouth open like a fish. “Do they _know_?”

“Know what?”

“That they’re clearly into each other? They _like_ like each other?”

Hunk giggles at the fact that Allura’s extensive, highly-educated 1000-year-old vocabulary can only summarise Keith and Shiro’s bond to ‘like liking’ each other. Allura swats him in retaliation.

“You _know_ what I mean.”

“I know, I know. Well. Maybe not. I mean. They’re not dating. So maybe they don’t know?”

Allura’s expression becomes something close to horrified. Honestly, her eyebrows are trying to form a single peak on her forehead with how high they’re raised. “We have to help them!”

“Uh...you sure? How?”

Allura grasps his hands in hers. God, she’s strong. Focus, Hunk! “Think of it, darling—” and okay, sure, he’s listening for real now, “—what if they never find out that they’re a perfect couple and just...it never happens for them?”

“I mean that would suck, yeah—”

“Imagine if you hadn’t told me you loved me and then we would have both been _miserable_.”

Hunk splutters, “Hey, that was a complete accident, I wasn’t _planning_ on calling you ‘honey’!”

“But it worked!” Allura’s eyes shine with so much hope. “We have to help them too—Shiro and Keith are both too stubborn or stupid to realise!”

“B-b-but how do we help?”

Allura’s eyes narrow devilishly, “We give them some _encouragement_.”

“Uh...how about we just ask them?”

“If you want to be as subtle as _Lance_ , sure,” Allura huffs. “No. We will throw some hints their way. You talk to Keith. I’ll talk to Shiro. Then come meet me back here before they announce the speech before dessert. You can do it!”

“Uh…”

“Oh, and _don’t_ tell Lance.” Allura disappears in a flurry of white curls.

Hunk pouts, because _how the quiznak is he supposed to ‘drop hints’, Allura_ , but he goes anyway. _Stay cool, stay cool, dude_. _Keith is there, yep, Shiro isn’t with him, oh thank god, no extraction plan is needed then, just surge forth and tell him something like, ‘That was an interesting convo with the V-man-how-do-you-pronounce-his-actual-name leader dude, hey’_ — _wait, don’t even mention that, that was so awkw_ —

“Hey, Hunk,” Keith greets him easily.

“Keith.” _Why so formal dude, relax!_ “Where’s Shiro?”

Keith shrugs. “Bathroom. How are you coping?”

“Oh, you know,” Hunk tries not to let his voice sound so strangled. “Love a good crowd.”

“And I hate Shiro,” Keith jokes, but his tone is soft.

_Quiznak, I hate crowds. Wait. So he doesn’t hate Shiro. Wait, so he loves Shiro? Allura was right! Am I overthinking this? Possibly? Act casual! Say something. Invest in the Shiro line. Maybe? Maybe silence is good instead. You’re supposed to be dropping hints! Ugh, why is this so hard?_

“You could never hate him, dude.” Hunk mentally high-fives himself for how chill he sounds.

Keith’s expression is distant. “No, I don’t think I could.”

The words are _very_ weighted. Keith unconsciously touches his scar. Hunk feels slightly out of sorts. Keith’s face is so _so_ open and gentle.

“You should tell him,” Hunk offers quietly.

“Tell him what?” Keith answers, evasive. Bro.

“Y’know...how you feel. About him.” _Smooth, Hunk, real smooth_.

When Keith looks at him, his face is hot but his eyes are hard, defiant. “I did. At the facility.”

Hunk does some quick math and tries not to fall over. Keith has been sitting on this for _over_ _two years_? “...What did Shiro say?”

Keith’s expression shutters. “Nothing. We never talked about it.”

 _Stars_. Talk about having constipated emotions and feelings. “Dude, you need to talk to him about this. At least get it off your chest.”

“That’s…not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“What if...I don’t want to ruin anything.”

“Bro, you and Shiro? What you’ve got can’t be ruined by this; it’s probably even better if you guys like, talk about this. Keep lines open and stuff. Like if you can’t talk about this with him, then you’re just going to bottle it up and feel even worse.”

Now would probably be a good time to stop talking but now that Hunk’s brain is on the Make Shiro and Keith Talk to Each Other train, it’s out of his control now.

“I mean I always feel better after talking when I’m anxious. And you can’t ruin it if you just talk and try work it out together. Like if he doesn’t feel the same—I think he actually does, to be honest—I mean, you guys are so close, your friendship is stronger than that.”

Okay, so that was not eloquent at all— _so much for dropping_ hints _!_ —but Keith seems to get the picture.

“Yeah…” he says, serious. “Thanks, Hunk.”

Hunk spots Allura making her way across the room to their designated meeting spot, so he claps Keith on the shoulder and escapes.

“How did you go?” Allura says, all conspiratorial.

Hunk lies, because his conversation with Keith had no hints and was only honest with a capital H. “Uh...well, I think.”

“Great, I think my talk went well too,” Allura says, chest puffed with pride.

Look, Hunk adores Allura but knowing her, she was probably about as subtle as a ten-ton semi. Yikes. He just smiles and nods. Her intentions are well-meant.

“And now we wait,” she says smugly.

Hunk gives a half-confident grin, “Sure. And now we wait.”

 _Quiznak_.

— H —

The night finally draws to a close, but under the watchful eyes of Hunk and Allura, no developments occur after their respective talks. Well, as far as they can tell. Shiro and Keith are tied up for the remainder of the function talking with various dignitaries. Allura seems slightly disappointed when they’re heading to her rooms, but she doesn’t say anything at first.

“You okay, honey?” Hunk asks when they’ve bid Pidge and Lance goodbye at the south-eastern wing. He’s always liked calling her that. It’s such a cute pet name. And Allura likes it too. Man, Hunk is so lucky.

Allura frowns at him, concerned. “Did we do something wrong? Nothing happened.”

“They probably just need time,” Hunk reassures her, grasping her hands in his and squeezing gently.

“They’ve had plenty of time!” Allura squeezes back indignantly, which, _ow_ that’s strong, yikes. Stars, she is so cool.

“People move slowly, honey,” he chuckles, nodding in thanks to the guard who opens her palatial rooms for them. “Maybe just one of them needs to slip up like I did and it’ll all be sweet.”

“Maybe,” Allura sighs, making her way to her bedroom and undoing one of the braids in her hair as she goes. “Just have to wait. I _hate_ waiting.”

“Patience yields focus, you know,” Hunk jokes, and earns an exasperated look in the mirror. Hunk follows Allura as she reaches her dressing table, stepping behind her as she sits and releasing another braid for her. “Have I mentioned how much I love your hair?”

“Hmm, once or twice,” Allura laughs, but she still tilts her head to the side to give him more room when he pushes her hair aside and leans down to kiss her neck.

— H —

The next morning, Hunk is on his way to steal a mid-morning snack from the kitchen when he sees Shiro and Keith engaged in a quiet conversation. He wouldn’t have even noticed them, actually, it’s just he nearly stepped on a bug in the corridor and he didn’t want it to just die or get squashed by someone else, so he was trying to return it to the garden and Shiro and Keith happened to be near the hedge he was rehoming the bug on.

Hunk is about to yell out a good morning call, but then he sees their expressions and his voice falters. Seems pretty serious. Hunk decides to evacuate before they can see him because what if they think he’s eavesdropping? Not that he can hear anything, but who knows, right? This quiznaking bug won’t get off his finger because it keeps crawling on his hand, so he shakes it off firmly and then attempts a speedy escape.

He steals a look back because who wouldn’t be curious? And because Allura will probably want to know what happens. The snack will have to wait for a moment.

Shiro is speaking, all earnest, and Keith...Keith is looking at Shiro like he’s the best thing he’s ever seen. And like, that’s a lot, I mean, Keith has seen a bunch of cool shit in space. They all have.

The way Shiro’s gazing at Keith is _exactly_ the way Hunk looks at Allura like. All the time.

Keith ducks his head and says something that makes Shiro smile, all soft around the edges, and his caress is so _so_ gentle when he slowly lifts Keith’s face to meet his. It’s so intimate, Hunk has to look away.

Time to get that snack and tell Allura her plan worked. Oh man, she’s going to be so pleased when she finds out.


End file.
